Well Done Team India

India's convincing victories over South Africa and West Indies are a welcome sign for the sport in a country which has been marred by the IPL spot fixing controversies in recent times.Though India have had few victories against top teams in the last couple of years,what makes these victories even more satisfying is the contribution from lesser known players like Dhawan and Jadeja.

The bowling of the young Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is a welcome sign to the pace department.He has carried the promise which he has shown in the last few series.He is a promising youngster who can be looked upto in the test match arena.The opening partnership of Rohit and Dhawan has been impressive.Rohit at last is beginning to live upto the hype which has been created around him.Dhawan has been a revelation and one hopes that he doesn't go in the Gambhir or Shewag way.

Jadeja continues to be impressive with both the ball and bat.He has carried his form from the Australian series.The fact that the victories have been achieved in England is more satisfying.One hopes for an encore of the 2002 Natwest Final.Keep going India!!!!

Vaddane Varu in shanmugapriya

This composition in the raga Shanmugapriya by Thyagaraja swamigal is not something one might have heard very often.I had the chance to listen to this kriti played by the great violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman.I have not heard  the song anywhere before that.After listening to the shanmugapriya played by the maestro ,I was very much exposed to a new version of the raga which I was not familiar before.Only the Ni (nishadam) and Ri(Rishabam) are sharps and all the other swarams are flat.

The delicate touches with the already existing aesthetic touch of the composition gave the raga and the kriti a whole new dimension.Shanmugapriya already has some memorable compositons like saravanabhava guhanae,the famous thirupugazh "Muthaitharum"by Arunagirinathar,vilaiyada idhu nerama to name a few.But this kriti is a real crown to the raga.

                                     

                                                 Vaddane Varu by Lalgudi G.Jayaraman

The very famous film composition Maraindirundhu Parkum in the movie Thillana Mohananambal is also in this raga.

"Aiyayo anandame"from Kumki in Simhendra madhyamam

The recent melody from the movie Kumki"aiyayo anandamae" by composer Iman in based on the raga simhendra madyamam.The use of prati madhayamam(MA 2) and kakali nishadam (N3) is prevalent throughout the song.The rendition by Haricharan stands out.The composer has used the violin towards the end to add more feel to the song.The traces of the other famous composition in simhendra madhyamam "asaindhadum mayilondru" can be felt in some places.

On the whole this song leaves a lasting impression on the listeners because of the melody and the effective handling of the ragam.

The Power of raga kapi

This raga has its own flavor of caffeine in it!It mesmerizes the audience with the soul it provides for the song.The presence of two nishadam provides the musician with ample scope to improvise the ragam and create the mood the songs require.

There are famous compositions like Enna dhavam seydhanae by Papanansam sivan ,chinna chiru kiliyae(beginning 2 stanzas) to name a few.The other strikingcomposition in recent times sung by Shankar mahadevan

"Ekathanthaya vakrathundaya gowri thanayayar dhimayi" leaves the listeners spellbound.Kapi ragam adds to the devotional flavour which is abundantly present in the slokam.I think everyone should experience the divinity of the song and ragam.

The film composition by Vidyasagar in the movie Parthiban Kanavu "Alangkuyil koovum rayil" is a collection to the rich kapi raga presence in all forms of music.

Sad Day for the music lovers

The Great Violin Maestro Lalgudi G.Jayaraman is no more.The music world has lost one of its pioneer.This year has seen the loss of two great violinists Shri.M.S.Gopalakrishnan and Shri Lalgudi.G.Jayaraman.I would like to share some of my thoughts on Lalgudi mama's violin.I still remember leaning the Ramanee samanamevaru(Karaharapriya ragam) piece from his recordings.The sangathis were mindblowing.I played the very same song in a thyagaraja concert.Though I could not do full justice to the song ,I was proud that I had the previlage of playing the same sangathis what the great maestro himself has recorded.

Lalgudi mama will always be with us through his compositions.I still remember playing the Mohanakalyani Thillana  when I was just 12 years.Till today I try to attain the perfection of the sangatis in the same thillana!

May his soul rest in peace and he will still continue to be part of our life through the music.....

Essence or ragam vasantha

      Ragam vasantha has many beautiful compositons to its credit.I was recently listening to seethamma mayamma by Thyagaraja swamigal and Ramchandram Bhavayami by dikshitar .Both the compositons are in the same raaga and I could find a distinct similarity in the way both the kritis were handled.It was soulful without much complicated sangatis.Even a first time performer can render these kritis with aplomb.The raagam doesn't have the panjamam that is the swaram PA.Most notable film songs include minsara khanna from the movie padayappa.
       The way Rahman handled the raagam was fantastic.Someone without the knowledge of karnatic music can relate the swarams handled in the later part of the song.

Unnai kanadhu naan in raagam dwijavanthi

I loved the recent Sankar Mahadevan's composition of unnai kanadhu naan from the movie Vishwaroopam.The song was tuned in one of the most beautiful raaga's dwijavanthi.Very happy to hear such a soulful composition after a long time.
Dwijavanthi raaga has several compositons both in carnatic and Hindustani classical.The most famous krithi is "Akhilandeshwari Rakshamam"by Muthuswami dikshitar.MS amma has given the song more soul through her wonderful renditions.

Scale and the raaga equivalent of the titanic song "My heart will go on"

    I was recently doing some comparisons between the Indian classical and western classical for a school program.The song I took was My heart will go on from titanic.I found the scale of the song was F major.But when I was looking into the raaga aspect I could see that it had most of it part in the raaga sankarabharanam except for the note B flat which is of course B natural for sankarabharanam. Going by the scale pattern of F major its raaga equivalent is Harikamboji which is of course the janyam of sankarabharanam.

    The equivalent of sankarabharanam in western scale is the C major scale.Almost all the notes are similar for F and C major scales except for the note B which is Flat in case of F major and  natural in case of C major.

    After doing various analysis I found the melody was sankarabharanam in most part with a touch of Harikamboji.
   

Keep going Rajasthan Royals!

Rajasthan Royals have scored a remarkable victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.The bowlers have really complemented well.Once again it was Kevon Cooper who was among wickets for the RR.What a performer Cooper is turning out to be for the Royals!His last year IPL stint was cut short by injury.We hope to see more of him in this season...Well done team.

My first post

I am a first time blogger.I am an Engineer and a musician.